Seriously though, if you can afford it, SLi really is worth it. I have 2x7800GTX. I can still play most games with everything turned on and this is a 2 year old card. You can count on at least 20% FPS increase.
One caution however your case says it comes with a 400W PSU. That may not be powerful enough, espicially if you go SLi. You will want at least 600W.
Hm, maybe I'll start with the MSI 975X Platinum PowerUP and a single GeForce 8800GTS (640MB) card since I'm getting a pretty good deal on both, and maybe upgrade the motherboard to a SLI one and add a second 8800GTS later when I can afford it...
A new SLI motherboard isn't that expensive to upgrade to later anyway, and I can use all the other parts on that one as well...
Got everything in the mail today, but it's really too bad that I probably wont have time to assemble the new system until the weekend since it looks really good...
Graphics Card
Gainward GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 Golden Sample http://www.gainward.net/en/product/p...ail_e8293.html
"Factory overclocked" GPU to 550Mhz (from 500Mhz) and memory to 1760 Mhz (from 1600Mhz), and probably easy to get them higher than that as well..
It's one LARGE graphics card!
Also going to add Raid SATA disks (320Gb) + one 250 SATA, and an extra Nexus Real Silent (12 cm) case fan..
Looks good! Your system is very similar to mine, although you have a more up-to-date graphics card.
Just remember to flash the MB bios to the lastest version once its assembled. If possible, BEFORE you install the OS.
I see your opted out of water cooling. Its probably for the best, While there are benefits, I don't the increased cooling/noise reduction is worth it considering the price. My Zalman 9700 is almost totally silent (it has an adjustable RPM speed setting), all the noise comes from the case fans and Water cooling won't help with that.
Putting it together tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to "test run" it and post the 3DMark and Super-PI results here tonight..
(if you don't see them then I've probably already been able to fry the CPU or GPU.. )
Putting it together tonight, so hopefully I'll be able to "test run" it and post the 3DMark and Super-PI results here tonight..
(if you don't see them then I've probably already been able to fry the CPU or GPU.. )
Naahh!!! Just remember when you over clock to do so in small increments and you'll be fine. Also write down then changes you make on paper. So you can remember the system stability thresh hold.
It's alive!!
Was pretty easy to get everything installed, but I encountered a couple of challenges/problems..
I can't use the Bitspower Silenstorm CPU cooler/fan I already have since I don't know where I put the socket 775 mounting kit so I have to use the cooler that came with the CPU.
It's REALLY noisy, so I'm going to order a new silent one today...
Other than that it's working fine..
Got a really nice decrease in Super-Pi, from 46 secs on my old system (non-overclocked) to just over 21 secs now (also not overclocked, yet..)
The 3DMark 05 results are also over twice as good as before, from 5100 to 13800. (both systems not overclocked there)
Looking forward to getting the new fan so I can "play" a bit with the CPU and GPU/Mem OC settings...
